Just an opinion on the review of the poles that Alan Dixon was kind enough to write....

I've had my REI Peak UL poles for a couple of months now; probably got about a 100 miles on'm and I've been extrememly pleased with them. Super light weight, comfortable grips and I have not experienced the duolock problems that others have.

I agree that the compasses were kinda mickey-mouse and I promptly popped them out, removed the straps and installed 1/4" X 20 threaded aluminum bolts in order to use as a camera mount and also secure my tarp when using the poles as ridgeline supports.

Nylon cap-nuts keep the threads clean and hold the ridge tie-out grommet on the tarp secure. Works like a champ !!

Tim...to remove the strap merely use a small diameter punch to push the pin through the grip. Once removed, drill a 1/4" hole down from the top of the grip (after removing the compass).

You can use any type of 1/4 X 20 bolt..stainless steel/aluminum/nylon/etc. Its a very common size. Bolt or screw needs to be about 2 to 3 inches in length; head doesn't matter 'cause you're going to cut it off anyway. Use a hacksaw to cut off head, clean up threads with a file and insert into drilled hole.Put nut on bottom of shaft, pull snug and add nut on top. Voila..all finished.

All these parts are readily available at Lowes/Home Depot/etc. When you get hardware also pick up a few washers/cap nuts and regular nuts of same material as bolt.

BTW..you won't be able to re-add the original straps, so if you prefer straps you'll have to devise a way to secure. I found I prefer the poles without the straps and, as a bonus, they weigh even less!!

If you didn't mind making the camera mount permanent, do you think you could have glued (epoxy) your threaded bolts into the trekking pole handles rather than attach with nuts? And if so, is there enough material in the top of the handle to hold a shorter bolt allowing you to reinstall the wrist straps?

Jay, that would be no problem. After looking at mine, (wish I could attach a picture), it would be easy to make the modification and still utilize the original straps. As mentioned, push out the pin on the side of the grip and the whole strap can be removed. Then simply follow the steps above and coat the lower threads on the bolt with epoxy let dry and then raise shaft and from top add washer and nut. Tighten securely.

Only cavaet here is make sure the length is right so you have enough thread above the grip for your capnut.Should be an easy project !!

After completion merely reinsert straps and pin. Also you could do away with the upper nut and just drizzle epoxy from the top and let it set-up. Should be rock-solid !!

Edited by bevans on 05/12/2005 18:54:15 MDT.

(Anonymous)

camera mount on trek poles
on 05/13/2005 11:03:05 MDT

I did the "reverse" of what you guys are talking about. I drilled a hole ~3/8" in the handle of my trek poles and epoxied in a 1/4-20 SS nut. I keep the small SS stud screw in the camera. This way, when going steep downhill, I can put my full weight via my palm on the top of the poles - the top of the pole handles are still smooth.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on the three-section telescoping poles with the REI Peak UL Carbon Poles loosing grip after being set.I thought I read somewhere that some poles (not sure which) did have a problem that no matter how tight you set the extension of the poles, they would loose grip after a short distance or minimal pressure added.

My experience is that once locked, they do stay locked. However, more than once, when compacting them after a hike, I've found the mechanism "refusing" to lock -- meaning I'm just twisting endlessly. I then have to pull the sections apart and adjust the white plastic nut in order to get the mechanism to lock.

Not fatal, but definitely a flaw. Otherwise, these poles are really lightweight and a joy to use.

there was also another thread that had one or more of my posts in it responding to this same problem. i think i described in more detail there how i resolved this issue. however, the sol'n explained there is them same as i explained in the shorter of my two posts in the thread Richard ref'd you to.

[unless I deleted that post in the other thread??? hope not or i'll get "spanked" again. i don't think i did delete it b/c as i recall no one else responded with the same or better info to solve the problem, so i prob. felt that there was some value in it. you might try searching for it if you need more detailed info.]

PJ,Thanks. I found other info as well and it seems there was an issue with earlier releases of these carbon poles and the third/bottom section not staying in place. Particularly in colder temperatures. They [REI] had pulled them from the shelf and are back in stock. One consolation is that REI guarantees their products and will accept returns should there be an issue.

last week I bought a pair of Komperdell Duolock Compact poles (which are essentially the same poles) on sale at REI. I used them on an overnight in the San Jacinto Mtns. this weekend and had similar mixed feelings as others. I liked the weight and the overall feel of the poles, but the duolock--or, as I wound up referring to it, the don't-o-lock, mechanism made me crazy! I only had a section collapse once; i.e. once they were locked they seemed to stay locked, but locking them was a huge pain. I was unable to lock the middle section about 75% of the time without pulling the pole section out and putting it back. The locks were good once engaged but getting the whole thing to "catch" inside the outer pole is the problem--the entire lock mechanism would spin freely because it wasn't catching.

I found two small tricks that helped. 1) the higher up I locked the section, the easier it was. I'm short and generally collapsed the middle section pretty far. But if I left it extended further it seemed to grip more readily. So, I would leave the middle section extended and collapse the bottom section further to compensate. (the bottom sections didn't trouble me much)

2) Like a couple other people mentioned, if I pulled the pole apart, and manually "started" the lock and expanded it until there was some slight tension, then placed it back inside the pole (so that it just barely fit back in), then the locking mechanism would stay engaged the it would adjust.